Global Energy Center Commentary & Analysis

Working with a wide-ranging community of experts and stakeholders, the Global Energy Center provides timely commentary and analysis on the geopolitical, sustainability, and economic challenges of the changing global energy landscape.

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The recently released report, Restoring America’s Competitive Nuclear Energy Advantage, commissioned by the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Nuclear Fuel Working Group, is an important step forward for US national security, the battle against climate change, and the health of the US economy. After decades of misguided policy, this report puts the United States back on track in leading a worldwide nuclear energy system that is effective, reliable, and carbon free.

In discussions about COVID-19 economic recovery policies, any measures focused on the oil and gas industry are often portrayed as being at odds with a green stimulus. However, a green stimulus within the oil and gas industry is not necessarily a contradiction in terms. Targeted public sector investments in oil and gas activities—especially in the areas of reducing methane emissions, improving energy efficiency, and deploying carbon capture—can curb greenhouse gas emissions significantly and at relatively low costs while maximizing broader near-term economic benefits.

The race to net-zero emissions is an uphill one. Despite the effects of climate change mounting and time running out, global energy demand is set to grow 50 percent by 2050. One solution to decarbonizing the global energy system while also meeting rising natural gas demand is carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS). However, CCUS has historically been too expensive to be viable, and deployment remains far off track. Enter the Allam Cycle: a novel natural gas power plant design that can theoretically capture 100 percent of emissions while being cost- and efficiency-competitive with advanced natural gas plants.

For years, Eastern European governments and Turkey have bought into a global trend, arguing that long-term strategies in the energy sector should revolve around market deregulation.
In light of the coronavirus outbreak and emergency measures implemented worldwide to contain it, the energy industry may face an increase in interventionist policies such as price controls and consolidation of state-owned enterprises as governments push to mitigate the shockwaves of expected consumer impacts.
Such measures would be detrimental to economies, and there are compelling arguments to suggest that governments should remain committed to their initial market goals.

The conventional wisdom that the United States is the only viable partner for Gulf states is now being challenged by a new reality: the main importer of Gulf oil is now China. At the same time, China’s strategic goals increasingly encompass stability in the Middle East, while a more activist foreign policy under Xi Jinping ensures greater involvement in the security, as well as economic, discourse in the region.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a sudden decline in global electricity demand of up to 20-25 percent in some countries, and the International Energy Agency (IEA) projects global electricity demand for 2020 will fall by 5-10 percent, contributing to an 8 percent overall drop in energy sector CO2 emissions. This piece updates evaluates the performance of the US and EU power sectors in 2019 within the context of the coronavirus pandemic.

The global COVID-19 pandemic has taken hundreds of thousands of lives and caused unprecedented harm to the global economy. At the same time, the pandemic has diverted global attention away from other matters of concern, notably the Floating Storage and Offloading Vessel (FSO) SAFER, a converted oil tanker moored four miles off the coast of Ras Isa, Yemen, in the Red Sea continuing to degrade after years of neglect. If no action is taken, the SAFER will spill as much as 1.14 million barrels of Marib Light crude into the water. Much of the world’s activity may be on hold, but the ongoing corrosion on the SAFER is not taking a break to wait out the pandemic.

Amid the haze of uncertainty wrought from coronavirus and oil market fallout, clean energy actors will not take a backseat as the world evolves. As the status quo dissolves before a global crisis, and fossil energy markets grow increasingly volatile, renewables and clean tech have an opportunity to chart a new path forward amid the recovery.

The Russian government has been instrumental in preserving the Maduro regime, despite years of intense domestic and international pressure favoring a democratic transition, providing the regime invaluable diplomatic leverage, security personnel, and material, as well as an economic lifeline. The US strategy for a democratic Venezuela must recognize these realities and focus on containing Russian influence in Venezuela, as it cannot end it.

Hydrogen technology represents a promising, multifaceted pathway that could offer many industries a new strategy for navigating the transition to net zero emissions. However, the current cost of deployment seems to be the biggest obstacle for widespread adoption.

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